Right Here
by matteney
Summary: He had never felt so horrible in his entire life. His wife had probably been unconscious for God knows how many hours; how on earth could he have been thinking about a f***ing cake just minutes earlier? - Chandler Bing is faced with tragedy.
1. Chapter 1

He was pacing up and down the long, illuminated hallway. The cruel neon lights felt like daggers in his eyes. They underlined his features – the sharp nose, the Pictionary scar above his right eyebrow, the crinkles around his eyes that were proof of not only his age, but also of the stress that he had undergone during those past few days. The man's blue eyes looked tired as he ran his right hand nervously through his salt-and-pepper hair.

Anyone who knew Chandler Bing would be surprised by the lack of jokes and the nervous state he was in. But given the fact that he had spent the past hours pacing up and down a hospital hallway, tired and alone, they would understand the situation. Or would they?

The clock above one of the doors was ticking mercilessly ahead and Chandler swore that he would soon go crazy if he had to spend even more time in this godforsaken building. Exhaling, he made use of the old habit of patting his empty jeans pockets before remembering that he had quit smoking years ago and didn't carry around cigarettes anymore. However, in situations like these he still had a hard time to fight his craving.

He wet his lip and exhaled before burying his face in his hands, his wedding band brushing against the stubble that was a remnant of not having shaved in a few days. How had it all come to this? Just a few days ago, she had been fine. His beautiful, strong wife had been so full of life before. He repeated the events of the past couple of hours and days in his mind for the umpteenth time, trying to find a reason for how any of this could have happened.

 _ **A few days ago**_

 _Monica hurried down the long staircase of their house in Westchester, one little backpack in each hand. They were running late; the kids had to be dropped off at school within the next 15 minutes and she was nowhere ready. This type of chaotic morning had almost become a routine in the Bing household, and usually she was used to taking care of two tired and cranky children. But lately things were different. She'd had trouble sleeping and was plagued by continous nightmares, waking up in the middle of the night completely soaked in her own sweat. Last night had been no different – and to make matters worse, she had even overslept this morning._

" _Jack, Erica, hurry up!" She called up the stairs in an attempt to get at least the twins ready faster. Letting out a deep breath, she opened one of the drawers and reached for a kitchen knife. The creative and uber-healthy lunch boxes had to be skipped today; so she grabbed two bagels instead and cut up some fruit for her children._

 _Chandler had already left for work so she packed the twins' bags as she did every morning, though being under even more time pressure today. Glancing at her watch, she called out for her kids again and started to load up the car when she heard their quick footsteps racing down the stairs._

" _I win!" Jack cheered before jumping up in the air, clearly having taken on his mother's competitive nature._

 _Erica was soon to follow with an eye roll as she walked past Jack to slip on her shoes. "You didn't even give me a warning, Jack!"_

 _Monica only heard the argument faintly as she threw her own bag onto the passenger seat before clutching onto the door of their SUV, a sharp pain knocking the air out of her. She closed her eyes in anguish and tried to breathe through it, knowing that she should have made a doctor's appointment a while ago. Once the pain subsided, she bit her lip and remembered an argument she'd had with Chandler just a few days ago once he had caught on that something was wrong with her. Being her stubborn self, she had a tough time admitting that she could be sick. Being sick was for weaklings. Monica Geller didn't get sick. Or so she had thought._

 _####_

"How is she?"

Chandler was taken out of his daydream and slowly focused on the person next to him.

"I… I don't know. They wouldn't let me in yet," he breathed out as he looked down on the floor again and twisted his wedding ring absent-mindedly.

Ross nodded in understanding before carefully patting his best friend's back.

"She's going to be fine, man," he paused, "It's Monica, she's the strongest person I know."

Chandler bit his lip again. Oh how badly he wanted to believe his brother-in-law. Yes, his wife was one hell of a determined and fierce lady, but he also knew that she'd been under a lot of stress lately and that she was only human.

"You don't know that, Ross. I just… I wish I had forced her to go see a doctor much earlier."

The paleontologist glanced over at his friend, his eyebrows furrowed.

"You noticed something beforehand?"

Chandler squirmed in his seat, still avoiding eye contact before shrugging. A few seconds passed before he took a deep breath. "Kind of…"

 _ **Two nights ago**_

 _Chandler took off his tie after a long day at work, getting ready for bed. As always, Monica had folded his pyjamas neatly for him under the covers. He had come home to her already asleep in bed after having worked the late shift. Trying not to wake her up, he slipped into their bed and moved close to her, his arms finding her upper torso and pulling her close to him. He heard her groan slightly before he pressed a soft kiss on the back of her head, pulling back slowly when he noticed how hot she was._

" _Mon?" He whispered into the darkness, brushing some of her black hair from her neck and feeling how sweaty her skin was._

" _Hmm?" She only replied faintly, her eyes still closed._

" _Are you okay? You feel quite hot…" Despite craving the closeness, Chandler pulled back slightly in an attempt to relief some of the body heat._

" _Honey, that's sweet but I'm not in the mood right now," she mumbled jokingly in an attempt to distract her husband._

" _I'm serious, honey. You're really burning up," he pressed the back of his hand against her forehead and grew even more worried._

 _She made a non-committal sound and closed her eyes again, too weak to get into an argument with him at this time of day and in her state. She didn't want him to worry; it was just a harmless cold which would be gone within a few days anyway. He had enough on his plate as it was. He had recently been promoted as Head of Copywriting and she couldn't be prouder that he finally got to do what he loved. No doubt he was finally enjoying himself and the praise he was getting from his boss was proof of that, too. She wouldn't be the one to stand in the way of the success of his upcoming project which required a lot of work. She'd be fine._

 _ _####__

Ross glanced at Chandler, waiting patiently to hear back from his friend.

"Kind of?"

Chandler finally lifted his head to look over at him, nodding. "She's had so much on her plate lately. I know that it's Monica and she's usually good at handling a lot, but she's also good at denying feeling weak." He raised his eyebrows to get his point across. "The past few days she's been feeling very tired and I'm pretty sure that two nights ago she had a temperature. She was all hot and sweaty but she wouldn't listen to me telling her to go see a doctor."

"Classic Monica," Ross shook his head, trying to digest this new information.

"But… what exactly happened before? I just came here as quickly as possible once you'd called me."

Chandler closed his eyes briefly, the pictures from a few hours ago still fresh in his mind. He'd never been so scared in his entire life. His family meant everything to him and nothing scared him more than the thought of losing one of the people he loved the most.

"I got home from work around 8 pm because we'd had a very important meeting and presentation earlier. Monica had told me in the morning that she'd work the early shift so she could pick up the twins from school in the afternoon and drop them off at your parents' house… we were going to celebrate in the evening…"

 _ **Earlier that night**_

" _Come on, pick up your phone," Chandler mumbled to himself while he was stuck in traffic on the way back home to Westchester. The dial tone repeatedly filled the small space of his car, but his wife didn't pick up. He'd tried to call her half an hour ago to let her know he'd be on his way, but no such luck. "Damn it!"_

 _The line of cars stuck on the highway seemed endless. All he wanted was to come home to celebrate the successful deal he had negotiated at work today. He'd even bought flowers for Monica as a thank you for her continuous support throughout his most stressful phase at work leading up to the project. The kids were to spend the night at their grandparents' house anyway so he was wondering why it was impossible to reach Monica. Was she perhaps baking a celebratory cake again? His mouth watered just at the thought of it and he realised he hadn't eaten since this morning. If that was the reason for her not picking up, he'd be okay with it. He grinned to himself as he thought about his favourite cheese cake and the traffic slowly started to move again._

 _It took him another 20 minutes until he finally pulled into the driveway of their house, the sun long since set. As he unbuckled he noticed that the entire house was dark. He briefly wondered if Monica had decided to throw him a surprise party, but then abandoned the idea again. They had decided to have a low-key evening together without friends or the twins, just some comfort food and unwinding together on the couch._

 _An unsettling feeling spread across his gut when he locked the car and took the last few steps towards their front door, his briefcase in tow. Versed in unlocking their door, Chandler pushed it open but was taken aback when it didn't budge after a few inches._

" _What the-"_

 _Fumbling for the light switch, his heart stopped when the bright, cruel light hit his eyes and revealed the lifeless body of his wife._

 _Before he could think straight, he dropped to his knees and pulled her limp form close, a panic overcoming him as he tried to ignore the blood that was streaming down her forehead._

 _ _####__

He didn't even notice that he was shaking as the horrifying images flashed in front of his eyes again, like a broken record.

"Dude," Ross held Chandler close and tried to get him to calm down again. He'd never seen his best friend in such a state. He felt incredibly stupid when he recalled the 'big brother talk' he had forced upon him all those years ago. If there had ever been a doubt in his mind that Chandler would not care about his sister enough, that thought was now entirely erased.

"I-I'm sorry," Chandler mumbled as he slowly got back to reality. It took him a few minutes and an entire glass of water until he was gradually feeling like himself again.

Ross almost didn't hear him as he tried to speak again.

"I have no idea how long she'd been there like that," he shook his head, feeling horrible. How could he have been thinking about a f***ing cake just minutes earlier?!

"I… I think she must have missed a step as she was coming down the stairs. She probably hit her head on the banister... there was just so much blood. Everywhere." His mouth felt dry again as his gaze found the hem of his light blue shirt, said dried-up blood stains still covering the fabric.

"God, why did I have to make such a fuss about this stupid presentation?!"

"You didn't know, man," Ross tried to calm him down, knowing the guilt was eating his friend alive.

"But I should have! While I was busy thinking about numbers and revenues, my wife was probably unconscious on the floor! I'm the worst husband ever!"

Ross shook his head in disagreement, knowing how stubborn Chandler could be when things came to his self-esteem and his qualities as a husband and friend. For Christ's sake, this man spent half a day in a wooden box because he felt so guilty about betraying his best friend.

"What… what if she's not going to be okay?" Chandler's voice was barely above a whisper, but the quiet sentence held way too much gravity for Ross' liking.

"Let's not think about that," he shook his head, not liking the direction this conversation was taking. He couldn't imagine life without Monica. More than that, he couldn't imagine Chandler and his nephew and niece without Monica.

Just when Chandler was about to argue with his brother-in-law, the opposite door opened and a tall man in a white overcoat faced them, a serious expression gracing his features. As if on cue, Chandler slowly got up, his heart in his mouth.

"How is she?"

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, children! I'm back! Well, for now. This will be a little two chapter fic; just something that spontaneously came to me this afternoon so I took some time off, just chilling on my balcony and writing this. Please do let me know what you think. The feedback on my last fic has been kind of meagre which is somewhat discouraging if I'm being honest. Anyway, the next part has also been written and shall be posted sometime within the next few days. Cheers!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Guys, thanks so much for your reviews and the feedback; it made me smile! And without further ado, I present to you the second (and last part) of this fic. Unless you're dying to read an epilogue and I'll eventually find time and inspiration to post one. Can't wait to hear what you think of this.  
**

* * *

Chandler looked into the doctor's brown eyes, but was unable to detect any clues on his wife's state.

"Why don't you sit down while your friend here gets you another glass of water, huh?" The man raised his eyebrows at Ross who was quick to catch on and nodded his head while making his way to the water dispenser.

Chandler on the other hand hated this kind of behaviour. Why couldn't doctors just straight-out tell the relatives what was going on? What was all this fuss about? It surely didn't help his nerves, for crying out loud!

He shook his head. "I don't feel like sitting, it's all I've been doing for the past few hours." His palms felt sweaty and he could only imagine what kind of an impression the doctor must have of him; bags under his eyes and half of his shirt covered in blood. But he couldn't care less.

"How is my wife?" He repeated his earlier question. He just _had_ to know.

Doctor Miller cleared his throat before slowly nodding his head. He had done this a million times and yet it had never gotten any easier.

"She's doing okay for now."

Chandler let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding before exhaling loudly. "Oh thank God!"

"She's heavily medicated though and still very weak so I'd suggest you wait and give her some rest before going in there," he went on carefully, knowing the kind of reply he would get from any husband who was in this man's situation.

"I have to at least see her, please," Chandler pleaded and after a little while, was able to convince the doctor. As they were walking towards the hospital room his wife was in, he tried to find out more to put his mind at ease.

"So do you know what happened? She's been trying to hide it from me, but she has been feeling a little off for the past two weeks already," Chandler confessed.

Doctor Miller looked at him curiously as they continued to walk down the long corridors. "How do you mean?"

"Well, I think she's overdone herself again. She's been working long shifts – she's a chef, you know, lots of being up on your feet – which tired her immensely. Feeling dizzy sometimes, I'd assume, given the fact that she's constantly been tired and not sleeping properly. Just two nights ago I swear that she was burning up," Chandler paused briefly, "You must think I'm a horrible husband, telling you all of this but not reacting. But my wife, she's the fiercest person I know. She'd rather be dying than to admit that she's sick… well, I guess I shouldn't joke make jokes at this stage."

The doctor gave him an understanding smile. "You've done nothing wrong. You found her and brought her here as fast as you could. I know it's tough hearing this right now, but that was all you could have done at this stage."

They finally stopped in front of a white door with a small glass window and the doctor turned to Chandler again.

"I know that it might look as if she's doing horribly at the moment, but I think I can safely tell you that she's going to be fine again. We still have to run a few tests and strengthen her again, but right now it looks like she's recovering from an infection that got the best of her due to a weakened immune system and not enough rest. I'll check back later today and let you know as soon as we got the results from the blood test, okay?" The doctor gave him an empathetic smile and patted his shoulder.

"Thanks, doctor." Chandler gratefully nodded when the man left him again to tend to his other patients. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to brace himself for what he was about to see.

There were a lot of machines in the room that made a myriad of noises and Chandler wasn't sure whether that reassured him or made things worse. He quietly made his way over to Monica's bed and noticed the plastic tube that was going inside her nose and the IV that was on the back of her hand. Her eyes were closed and a bandage was covering the wound on her head. She looked so incredibly small to him that he had a tough time believing this was his usually so strong and upbeat wife.

He finally took a seat in the chair that was placed next to her bed and reached out for her pale hand that had the IV in it.

"Hey Mon, it's me," Chandler whispered as he watched her closely, the steady noise coming from the heart rate monitor reassuring him. At first it was only her eyelids that fluttered briefly, but as he continued to carefully stroke her hand she began to stir slightly.

"Sweetie, you remember what happened? You're in the hospital right now, I think you fell and hit your head," he calmly tried to explain to her mostly unmoving form.

After a few more minutes, she slowly moved her head and her eyes fluttered open partly. "Chandler?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he sat up straight as if hit by lightning.

"Yes, baby, it's me. How are you?" He softly replied as he continued to stroke her hand. "I've been so worried."

It took her a few moments to adjust to the light and the unfamiliar room, but when her husband's face came into view she managed to smile slightly. "I-I feel a little weak."

Chandler grinned at her as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Yeah? Never thought I'd ever hear you admit that."

She laughed softly before closing her eyes again for a short moment. "How long have I been unconscious?"

Before he could answer, she looked at him again. "And how did your presentation go?"

He shook his head and tried his hardest not to laugh, knowing that this was still a serious situation that could have ended quite differently. "It went great. But what's more important is how _you_ are doing, okay?"

Monica just nodded, trying to remember the last thing that had happened before she apparently passed out and got picked up by an ambulance.

"You've been out of it for a few hours, I guess," Chandler never even broke eye contact. "I tried to call you as I was on my way home, but you wouldn't answer the phone. I'd been stuck in terrible traffic and when I finally got home sometime past 8 o'clock, the entire house was dark and I found you face down on the floor next to the stairs," he bit his lip, thanking God for the millionth time today that his wife was alright.

Monica nodded slowly before taking in his appearance. "What happened to your shirt?"

Chandler glanced down briefly before shaking his head and moving over to sit on the bed and pulling her into his embrace. "It's nothing," he placed another kiss on top of her head and smoothed down her hair as he took in her smell. "Someone had to lift you up, didn't they? Even though the floor was most likely 'Monica-clean'."

She chuckled softly before clinging onto her husband's strong arms. "Thank you."

"No, thank _you_ for being alive. I… I have no idea what I would have done without you, Mon." He felt a lump form in his throat as he searched for her blue eyes. The blue eyes he never ever wanted to miss in his entire life.

"It's okay, Chandler," she whispered and continued to hold him close as she tried to understand what had happened to her and what kind of a horrible ordeal her husband had been through during these past hours.

"I… I think I remember being upstairs and wanting to do something… or grab something… and then the phone went off and I wanted to get it…?" She shook her head while exhaling, clearly still tired from everything.

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out eventually," Chandler nodded when noticing how exhausted she still was. "The doctor says they'll be running a few more tests to find out what's been going on so they'll let us know as soon as they have the results. Why don't you get some more rest, huh?"

Monica nodded, fighting a yawn as she squeezed his hand. "I will. Just… the kids are alright?"

"Yeah, they're fine. They're probably still asleep because they're spending the night at your parents' house, remember?" Chandler didn't want to overwhelm her with all the information as he was also not sure what she remembered and what was lost on her.

Monica patted his hand and closed her eyes again, a small smile on her lips. "Right. Thank you, Chandler. I love you."

He pressed another kiss to her forehead before slowly untangling himself from her and covering her up again. "I know, sweetie."

###

The sun was slowly rising and illuminating the white hospital room. Chandler had spent most of the night in a very uncomfortable chair next to Monica's bed, in the meantime having informed Jack and Judy of what had happened. They planned on visiting with the twins as soon as Monica and Chandler got the okay from the doctor that she was able to accept visitors. He groaned as he felt most of his limps coming back to life. The need to get up was becoming unbearable so he decided to give Monica some more space and stretch his legs along the seemingly endless hospital corridors that were apparently made for walking. Just when he had closed the door behind his back and wanted to set off, Doctor Miller made his way towards him.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Oh hello, good to see you still around," Chandler nodded and shook the doctor's hand, still very grateful for everything he had done for his wife.

"Yeah, that's life as a doctor for you. Never an end to the working day," he winked with a smile and lifted up a clipboard that had a pen attached to the upper part. "Got your wife's blood test results back."

Chandler perked up and stood up straight, the need to move around momentarily forgotten. "You do? So… y-you know what's happened to her?"

Doctor Miller nodded slowly. "Well, as for what happened last night…I can only take a guess as nobody was around. But as you assumed, your wife must have missed a step and hit her head, thus passing out."

Chandler bit his lip, not sure if the paper attached to the clipboard in front of him held good or bad news.

"So once she can leave the hospital – which should hopefully be by tomorrow or the day after – please make sure that she takes things easy. It really does look like she's been overworking herself. And from what you've told me, admitting that she needs rest isn't something that she will easily accept?" He questioned.

"No, not really," Chandler grinned and shook his head. He knew it was part of who Monica was and he loved her for it, but sometimes it surely didn't hurt for his wife to be a little more laid back and let him take charge of things for a change. "But I'll try my best."

"I'm sure you will," Doctor Miller nodded as he looked up from his clipboard again. "And I'm sure you will have a lot of motivation to do so."

Chandler looked at him quizzically before tilting his head. "Whaddya mean?"

"Mr Bing," the man in the white coat came closer before smiling down at him when he turned over the clipboard. "Your wife is pregnant."

Blinking, Chandler looked at the doctor in disbelief. "Come again?"

"Monica is expecting a baby. She's about six weeks along so that might explain the fatigue and the tiredness. But we double-checked everything and she and the baby are fine, so just take things slow once you get back home. Congratulations." He patted Chandler's back and made his way down the corridor before knocking on some other patient's door, disappearing just as quickly as he had appeared before.

Chandler stood there in the hallway, his entire world having instantly been turned around. Monica was pregnant?! He only now noticed that the doctor had pushed the sheet of paper into his hands so he turned it around and continued to stare at the black letters on the white material.

 _Pregnant_.

With a huge grin on his face, he turned around and stopped when he saw that Monica was awake again through the small window. His hand found the wooden surface of the door and he thanked the heavens for protecting the love of his life and the precious new life both of them had apparently created.

All of a sudden, he couldn't wait to tell her.

And he couldn't wait to come back right here. Back to this hospital. Because in less than eight months, they would be here to welcome their third child into the world.

Their very own miracle baby. Right here.


End file.
